|
History
Click here for historic
photos
At
the turn of the last century, Elizabeth Ford Holt traveled north from
Boston to New Hampshire with a dream to establish a summer camp for
boys.. a place where boys could spend the summer learning, and
growing. In 1903 she purchased the Barnard Farm on the shores of
Newfound Lake and founded Mowglis for Boys.
Having obtained the permission of author Rudyard Kipling, she was able
to borrow names from his Jungle Books, and to this day many of the
buildings at Mowglis carry such names as Toomai, Baloo, and Akela. Mr.
Kipling also instructed Mrs. Holt on how to pronounce Mowglis ("Mow"
sounds like cow, and "glee"), and how to pluralize the name of Mowgli
the boy character in the Books, by adding a silent "s".
Throughout his life, Mr. Kipling maintained an active interest in the
undertaking so influenced by his inspiring and exciting stories.
In the spring of 1925 Mrs.
Holt passed the camp onto long time Assistant Col. Alcott Farrar
Elwell, who ran Mowglis for 27 years. In 1962, after Mr. Darwin
P. Kingsley, and Mr. John C. Adams had taken over from Colonel Elwell
for five years apiece, the Holt-Elwell Memorial Foundation was
established and acquired the camp to insure the continuity of the
program as a non-profit institution. To this day the Holt-Elwell
Memorial Foundation carries on the traditions that were established in
the early 1900's by the founder, Mrs. Holt.
^ Top |
